Page:Life in Java Volume 2.djvu/80

 (34 LIFE IN JAVA.

went straight to see the tigers, which are kept here till some great occasion, when there is to be a fight similar to the one I have already described. After some delay the juru coonchie appeared, and con- ducted us within a small enclosed area, where, in a large cage, made of thick teak beams negligently put together, we discerned through the chinks four tigers walking from side to side. I w^as told that two soldiers came to see them, on a certain occa- sion ; and one of them, anxious for a closer in- spection, mounted a ladder and gained the roof. While stooping over the space purposely left open for the keeper to drop the food in, his cap came off, and, as he failed to seize it, fell on the floor below. Knowing that to return without it would subject him to punishment, he endeavoured to raise it up by means of a pole, but finding this ineffectual, he rashly jumped down into the den. His comrade, on witnessing this foolhardy leap, concluded he was lost, and ran as fast as his legs would carry him, to

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